Saints finish 2021 season 10-9 overall
Posted July 26, 2021
The St. Peter town team lost its final game of the season 2-1 at Belle Plaine on Sunday afternoon, finishing its 2021 campaign 10-9 overall and 5-5 in the River Valley League.
The first four innings of Sunday’s season finale went scoreless with Saints starting pitcher Luke Regner working through a few jams. Regner stranded six runners on base (three in scoring position) in the first four frames while recording the final out of each inning via a strikeout.
The local nine broke the shutout in the fifth as Walker Froehling reached on an error, moved to second on a sac bunt by Connor Bjorling, and scored on a hit by Andy Regner. But Belle Plaine answered in the bottom half with a walk, two singles, and an error for a 2-1 lead.
The Saints threatened in the seventh as Sam Carlson singled and reached second on another sac bunt by Bjorling, but was stranded after a pop out and strikeout.
Luke Regner went the distance on the mound, allowing one earned run on eight hits with six strikeouts. Billy Hanson led the offense, batting 2-for-3 with a walk and stolen base.
The Saints competed in 18 games this season and won one contest by forfeit. Sam Wenner finished with the highest batting average on the team at .500, hitting 15-for-30 in just seven games. Tyson Sowder led the team with 21 hits and 14 runs scored in 14 games. Jovan Rodriguez drove in 13 runs for the team lead and had a slugging percentage of .453.
Luke Regner tossed a team-high 48.2 innings with a 4-2 record and 4.81 ERA. Carlson was second with 40.2 innings and had a 4.20 ERA. Both Regner and Carlson started seven games. Dylan Graft led the team with 37 strikeouts in 24 innings and boasted a 3.75 ERA.
St. Peter would have been the No. 3 seed for Region 6C playoffs this weekend, but the Minnesota Baseball Association State Board ruled the team ineligible for playoffs due to a player contract filing issue. The state board proved to be inconsistent and nepotistic in its rulings of player contracts by allowing a team to compete in the playoffs last season after violating the same contract rule. That team was Bird Island and is managed by a state board director.
St. Peter is currently on probation and must appeal to the state board prior to the start of the 2022 season in order to be reinstated.
